What Causes a Straight Pull in Golf?

There's almost nothing more frustrating in golf than swinging the club, making what feels like perfect, solid contact, only to watch your ball start left of the target and fly dead straight into trouble. That shot, the straight pull, can be infuriating because it feels so close to being good. You didn't slice it, you didn't hook it, you flushed it… just in the wrong direction. This article will break down exactly what causes this pesky shot. We’ll look at the core engine of ball flight - your swing path and clubface - and then provide simple, actionable checkpoints and drills to get you hitting it straight at your target again.

First, Let's Understand What's Actually Happening

Before we can fix the pull, we need a basic understanding of why the golf ball flies the way it does. It all comes down to two things that happen in the split second of impact: your swing path and your clubface angle.

• Swing Path: This is the direction your club head is traveling as it moves through the golf ball. For a right-handed golfer, it can be "in-to-out" (toward the right of the target), "out-to-in" (toward the left of the target), or "square" (straight at the target).
• Clubface Angle: This is simply where the clubface is pointing at the moment it strikes the ball (open, closed, or square).

The cardinal rule of ball flight is that the ball generally starts in the direction of the swing path. The curve (or lack thereof) is then influenced by the clubface angle relative to that path.

In the case of a straight pull, something very specific is happening:

Your swing path is traveling "out-to-in" (to the left of your target), and your clubface is square to that same path.

Think of it like railroad tracks. If the tracks are aimed left of the station (your target), and the train's wheels are perfectly aligned with those tracks, the train will travel straight down the tracks… and miss the station to the left. Your ball is the train. The swing path laid the tracks to the left, and your square-to-path clubface kept the ball right on them, never curving back.

The Primary Cause: An Outside-to-In Swing Path

Now that we know an "out-to-in" path is the main culprit, we have to ask why it happens. For a massive majority of golfers who pull the ball, this path is created by a move affectionately known as coming "over the top."

This happens during the transition from the backswing to the downswing. Instead of the lower body initiating the downswing and allowing the club to drop down on a natural, inside path, the upper body takes over. The right shoulder (for a righty), hands, and arms throw the club "out" and "away" from the body, causing it to travel over the ideal swing plane. From this position, the only way to get to the ball is to cut across it from outside to in, creating that leftward path.

It's an incredibly common move, often born from an instinctive desire to create power. The brain thinks, "hit the ball hard," which triggers the big, powerful muscles in the shoulders and chest to lunge at the ball. Unfortunately, in golf, this sequence is a recipe for a pull or, if the face is open to that path, a high, weak slice.

Common Flaws That Lead to an Over-the-Top Move

Several underlying issues can cause this faulty transition. See if any of these sound familiar:

• Poor Swing Sequence: This is the big one. The perfect downswing starts from the ground up: the hips begin to unwind, then the torso follows, then the arms, and finally the club. The "over-the-top" player does the opposite, firing the arms and shoulders first.
• A Steep Downswing: When the club gets too vertical on the way down, it gets "stuck" outside the correct path. From here, you have no choice but to swing across the ball. This is often a result of that aggressive shoulder move from the top instead of letting the club "shallow" out.
• A Stalled Body Rotation: Some players stop turning their body through impact. When the hips and chest stall, the arms have to take over completely. With no space to swing, they are forced to pull across the body and to the left to finish the swing.
• A Backswing That's Too Far Inside: This is a slightly more advanced cause, but if you whip the club too far behind your body on the backswing, your natural reaction will be to "re-route" the club by throwing it over the top on the way down to get it back to the ball.

Drills to Correct Your Out-to-In Path

Knowing you come over the top is one thing, feeling the opposite is another. Theory on the range is useless without a practical way to change your movement. These drills are designed to retrain your body and give you the feeling of a proper, inside-to-square swing path.

Drill 1: The Headcover Gate

This is a classic for a reason - it provides immediate and undeniable feedback.

1. Tee up a ball (using a tee even with an iron makes this drill easier to start).
2. Place a headcover, water bottle, or empty sleeve of balls on the ground a few inches outside of your golf ball. Position it so that an "over-the-top" swing path would hit it, but an "inside" path would miss it cleanly.
3. Set up to the ball and start by making slow, half-speed practice swings. Your only goal is to hit the ball while missing the headcover. This will force you to feel the club dropping more from the inside and approaching the ball from behind rather than from out in front.
4. Once you're consistently missing the headcover, start hitting balls at about 70% speed. You'll quickly see that the only way to succeed is to lead with your lower body and let the club follow on the correct path.

Drill 2: The Feet-Together Drill

Coming over the top is often a violent, unbalanced movement. This drill strips away your ability to lunge at the ball and promotes a swing that is controlled by your core rotation.

1. Set up to the ball with a mid-iron, but place your feet so they are touching or only an inch apart.
2. From here, all you are trying to do is make smooth, 50-70% swings, focusing on staying in perfect balance from start to finish.
3. You'll discover that if you try to heave at the ball with your upper body, you'll immediately fall over. This drill robs you of your ability to use "bad" power and forces you to rotate around your spine. It synchronizes your arms with your body, promoting a V-shape swing where the club returns on the same path it went back on.

Drill 3: Feel the Connection with a Towel

Often, coming over the top is caused by the trail arm (right arm for a righty) getting disconnected and flying away from the body in the downswing. This drill forces it to stay connected.

1. Take a small golf towel or an extra glove and tuck it into your right armpit.
2. Your goal is to hit short shots, from about wedge to 8-iron, without letting the towel fall out until after you've made contact with the ball.
3. To keep the towel in place, your right arm has to stay "tucked" and connected to your torso during the downswing. This prevents it from casting out and over the top. It encourages your body's a rotation to be the engine that brings the club into the ball, not a disconnected arm throw.

Don't Overlook the Obvious: Check Your Alignment

Sometimes, the straight pull isn't a complex swing sequencing issue at all. Sometimes it is far simpler: you are just aiming left.

I see this constantly on the lesson tee. A golfer comes to me with a "pull," but during their setup, their clubface is aimed at the target and their feet, hips, and shoulders are all aimed significantly left of the target. They then make a perfect swing - perfectly along the line of their shoulders - which sends the ball exactly where their body was aimed.

Good alignment means creating two parallel lines, like railroad tracks. The first line is your clubface-to-target line. The second, parallel line is the one your feet, knees, hips, and shoulders are set on.

A Simple 3-Step Alignment Check

Never hit another ball on the range without going through this simple routine:

1. Pick an Intermediate Target: Stand directly behind your ball and look at your final target. Now, find a small spot - a discolored piece of grass, an old divot, a leaf - that is just one to three feet in front of your ball and is directly on that target line.
2. Aim the Clubface First: This is the most forgotten step. Walk in and set your clubface down behind the ball, aiming it *exclusively* at your little intermediate target. Forget about the flag for a moment. This sets the all-important "ball" track of your railroad.
3. Set Your Body Parallel: Now that your clubface is aimed, set your feet, hips, and shoulders parallel to the line created by your clubface and the intermediate spot. You can lay an alignment stick on the ground pointing left of your intermediate target to get a strong visual cue for where your body's "track" should be.

Final Thoughts

The straight pull is a solvable problem because its causes are so clear. The ball is simply following the laws of physics - it’s flying straight down the out-to-in path you created for it. Your job is to correct that path by improving your swing sequence, using drills to ingrain an inside approach, and consistently checking your alignment to make sure you're not causing the problem before you even start your swing.

Of course, the first step is always correctly diagnosing the root cause. Are you truly coming over the top, or are your shoulders just aimed left at setup? This is where instant, unbiased feedback is invaluable. At Caddie AI, I am here to take the guesswork out of your game. You can send me a quick video of your swing, and I can instantly analyze your movements to see if it’s an over-the-top path or an open alignment at address. I give you that clear, immediate feedback, so you can stop guessing and start focusing your practice time on things that will really have an impact.